Here goes the Part 7 of my recent trip to Taiwan: A Glimpse of Old Streets in Modern Taiwan - Treasure Hill Artist Village 台湾老街漫步遊, 怀旧 - 宝藏岩国际艺术村.

Home to veterans of the Chinese Civil War who fled to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) about 60 years ago, Treasure Hill used to be packed with aging and illegal structures built by the residents. Instead of bulldozing the whole site, the Taiwan government turned the area into a living artists village. It was officially opened in 2010 and now features art studios and exhibition spaces. Some families originally living in the area have come back to share the space with the many artists and tourists that have invaded the community now. Houses of stone and later of brick appeared along the hillside, forming a picturesque scene as they intermingled at different heights. Viewed from the outside, passerbys could see the little hilltop village standing in its solitude as if forgotten by the rest of the world.

Starting from here, like playing with a curled-up treasure map, i walked along the winding trail that leads to the top of the hill step by step. Public artworks painted on the walls along the way portray little details of city life in Taiwan. The beautiful views on the walls lead visitors towards Treasure Hill and help them forget their fatigue from walking.

Taking its name from the Buddhist temple of the same name in the community, which was built 300 years 宝藏岩. Treasure Hill is every bit as alluring as its name.

At the Artist Village inside the Treasure Hill Settlement, special patterns are imprinted on houses, and their distinctive, small and varied rooms divide the space into areas for different uses, such as offices and exhibition spaces, as well as live-in studios where artists can focus on their creations. As artists integrate local characteristics into their creations, they develop a special feeling that is intimately human and "happening now".

If you like art enclaves, you will appreciate Treasure Hill with its unique mix of residential units and art studios on the hillside. Don’t travel on the main footpath though, you may not see much of the place. Be sure instead to wind up and down the narrow alleys and stairs.

Art, however, is not confined within the studios. It spills onto the walls and grounds of the village. This is what I like most about Treasure Hill – being able to stumble upon art in unexpected spaces.

The unique location of Treasure Hill with its narrow alleys and stairways traversing the hillside, gives Treasure Hill Artist Village a European rural village feel. Over the years, various groups settled the hillside with their own lifestyles and needs creating a tribal-like organic scene. The site sits in the unique historical settlement of village style where awaits to be explored by the artists to put creativities in.

As you walk through Treasure Hill, you can't help but note that necessity is the mother of invention. Cast-off wood, tiles, bricks, sheet metal, plastic and cardboard have been turned into the building blocks of "home-made" homes.

Treasure Hill Artist Village is built somewhat vertically on the side of a hill. Of course, the further you head up, the more spectacular the view becomes.

If you enjoy clambering around, searching for hidden nooks and crannies, you are going to love Treasure Hill Artist Village. It’s like a massive gallery for different kinds of avant garde artworks spread across an old neighborhood and throughout an existing one.

In Taiwan, "illegal structure" used to be synonymous with "dirty" and "backward." Historical Treasure Hill, however, appears to have escaped that fate. In the wake of the last few years' debate over whether to tear it down, the community has been featured in The New York Times as one of Taiwan's must-see destinations and visited by a crew from Lonely Planet Television. Suddenly, this long-forgotten community has become the focus of a great deal of positive attention.Most importantly, the community is to be preserved at its present location, its "disadvantaged residences" developed and integrated into an "arts village." These plans have granted Treasure Hill a new lease on life and mark the start of a new chapter in Taiwan's city planning. In Treasure Hill, i witnessed a beautiful transformation that attracts visitors from island-wide to memorize the history and at the same time to witness the success of community building that offer a better future of the entire community as well as promote creativity and space among talented artists.宝藏岩带给了人什么? 就是一个 '回忆' 吧. 老朋友到这里怀念昔日生活场景, 年轻人则喜欢加之于老房子上的新东西, 如空间装置, 艺术表演, 文创产品.

p/s: This Part 7 will be the last blog post on my recent Taiwan photography trip series on "A Glimpse of Old Streets in Modern Taiwan 台湾老街漫步遊, 怀旧". Please continue to stay tune for the next few blog posts on another story series on Taiwan. To be revealed soon......... :-)